Thinking Inside The Box About The Spirit

For the Sake of Authenticity:

Millennials are a generation that prides themselves in the notion that authenticity is of the upmost importance.  There are clear indicators of this type of emphasis: the sexual revolution, subjective morality, the feministic movement.  All of these feats, in one way or another, are attempts at expressing oneself in a manner that is befitting of the individual.  The personal expression of the autonomous self is the dominate theme that runs throughout the American culture.  The establishment of YouTube, the addictive nature of Facebook, and the narcissistic tendencies of internet bloggers (I am guilty) speak to the fact that our society hungers for an outlet that will allow creativity to showcase the uniqueness and peculiarity of individual talent.   This, in the culture's mind, is authenticity! This war is mounted upon the notion that certain persons despise the limitations of the proverbial box.  They are unwilling to allow labels to limit or curb their particular brand.  This box, whatever it may reference, is symbolic of a restraint that encompasses a suffocating dilemma.

The fight for authenticity is rooted 

in the notion that certain persons do not want to be limited to the proverbial box. 

Yet one could argue that without the box per se, an individual would not necessarily have a starting point to base their ingenuity. The box is not meant to be restrictive in nature, but rather foundational.  The box could be perceived not in a manner of coercion, but formulating a platform.  Similarly, authentic Christianity is built upon solid groundings.  D. A. Carson, a New Testament professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, comments

"Authentic Christians" are not those who are merely very sincere and who call themselves Christians. If "authenticity" is to retain any utility in this discussion, the "authentic Christian" is the one who is most shaped in thought, word, and deed by Christianity's foundational documents, by Christianity's Lord, by Christianity's creeds.1

Limitation or Identification:

Much of theological thought, in regards to pneumatology, is conjoined to the notion that God is confined to a doctrinal box. The aim of many within this generation is to set Him free from the rigidness of fundamental orthodoxy.  Hyper-charasmatics would want the Spirit to maneuver in free reign over the emotional ecstasy of mystery while negating the divine self disclosure of the Scriptures.  But what would happen if the foundational guardrails were undone and the definitive authenticity of this age were to set the course?  The basis to discern the Spirit's working, in my estimation, would be severed.

Though it can be philosophically argued that the triune God is beyond the scope of the canonical Scriptures, the church would be ill advised to assume that the Lord is any less than what He has revealed to His people through the text.

Therefore, it is rudimentarily clear that in order to think outside the box, the community of saints must begin to discern the box.  Though it can be philosophically argued that the triune God is beyond the scope of the canonical Scriptures, the church would be ill advised to assume that the Lord is any less than what He has revealed to His people through the text.  The biblical documents must be the undergirding foundation for the people of God to ascertain the Spirit's movement.  The premise of this blog, then, is to advocate for two (2) main components in appropriating the ministry of the Spirit: the Spirit is intrinsically linked to the Word and the Spirit's aim is to glorify the Son (for the sake of space/time I will not hit on the edification of the church).

Word and Spirit:

There is a strict correlation between the appropriateness of the Spirit and the surfacing of the proclaimed Word.  Simply put, where the Word of God is proclaimed the Spirit is maneuvering and where the Spirit of God is working the Word, in conjunction, surfaces. The Old Testament is marked with individuals who were filled with the Spirit and, in turn, prophesied by saying, "Thus saith the Lord." Upon the ascension of Christ the inauguration of the Spirit emboldened the disciples to courageously preach the Gospel message.  Thomas R. Schreiner notes that "the filling of the Spirit leads to the proclamation of God's Word, to testifying about what God has done in Christ. . . In every instance the filling of the Spirit is related to bearing witness and speaking out the prophetic Word."2 The biblical theme which run throughout the Old and New Testament is the conjoining work of the Word and the Spirit.

Simply put, where the Word of God is proclaimed the Spirit of God is maneuvering and where the Spirit is working the Word, ultimately, surfaces.

This notion should not be easily dismissed.  The Spirit, who is the divine author of the Scriptures, does the work of illumination in which the human heart is opened to the truths of the triune God.  Salvation is not encapsulated by the intellectual arena, but rather is compounded through the Holy Spirit in divine revelation.  Paul is adamant that the apostles proclaimed a Gospel "not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual" (1 Cor. 2:13). In order to positively respond to the Word the Spirit must quicken the dead heart which, in turn, awakens the will to affectionately respond to the Lord Jesus Christ.  A. W. Tozer comments on this in saying,

It is quite plain in the scriptural revelation that spiritual things are hidden by a veil, and by nature a human does not have the ability to comprehend and get hold of them. He comes up against a blank wall. He takes doctrines and texts and proofs and creeds and theology, and lay them up like a wall—but he cannot find the gate! He stands in the darkness and all about him is intellectual knowledge of God—but not the true knowledge of God, for there is a difference between the intellectual knowledge of God and the Spirit-revealed knowledge.3

In this case, the Spirit of God opens the eyes of our hearts so that we "may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18). The mark of the Spirit's work, or rather the confines of His box, is to enlighten the eyes of the elect in order to grasp "the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

Glorify the Son:

If the work of the Spirit is to illumine the eyes of the elect to the glory of God in the face of Christ, then the aim to which the Spirit maneuvers is to bring glory to the Son.  Jesus affirms this notion by saying, "[The Spirit] will glorify Me (Jesus), for He will take what is mine and declare it to you" (Jn 16:14).  Yet the question remains: how does the Spirit practically glorifying the Son within everyday ordinary life?

If the work of the Spirit is to illumine the eyes of the elect to the glory of God in the face of Christ, then the agency to which the Spirit maneuvers is to bring glory to the Son.

The central component in the Spirit's movement through the life of the disciples is rooted in the Johannine corpus; the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17).  The introduction of the Paraclete (Jn 14:16) is cosigned to the abiding notion of the Word (John 15).  Jesus clearly states, "[whoever] has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (Jn. 14:21). This abiding endeavor associated with the Word is not meritorious as in to favor works salvation, but is the fruit of the salvific work in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Schreiner adds,

The Spirit does not provide an independent access to truth to the disciples. He does not summon them to learn mysteries that are gleaned through some special channel of private revelation. He witnesses to the words of Jesus and reminds them of His words and teaching. They will recall everything that is necessary and crucial from Jesus' teaching, but not in their own capacity.4

The commandments of Christ are not impersonal statements to follow for the sake of following.  "As we come to the Word of God," according to Tozer, "we do not come just for information; we come for an encounter with the living Word of God."5 The Spirit works through the vehicle of the Scriptures to conform us into the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29). This sanctifying work is not merely to terminate on becoming a better "me" per se—though uniqueness to our createdness is essential—Christ conformity guides humanity toward its intended purpose.  Marcus Peter Johnson captures this theological notion well when he says,

In the incarnation, God disclosed Himself perfectly through the Son; Jesus Christ is the fully human being, the perfect image of God. To restore us to our blessed state of true humanity, God joined us to His true image, and so we begin again to be who we were created to be. And this astounding, breathtaking turn of events lies at the root of our holiness: the essence and goal of our sanctification is reflecting the image of Jesus Christ.6

The Spirit's glorifying work of the Son in the heart of the believer is to connect the saint to the agency of the Word to which he/she will be conformed into the image of the Son.

The God-Shaped Box:

The tendency to think outside the box has a correlation with current society's aim to define any particular topic on their own terms.  This has relative merit.  But upon the understanding of the Spirit, the saints will not properly grasp the complexities of Him or His work outside the self disclosed agency of the canonical text.  In order to think outside the box, the church must discern the box to which God has arranged Himself in through special revelation.  In other words, He has spoken anthropically in order that His people might understand Him and, in turn, determine His transcendence. To think outside the box has the potential of setting the church on a trajectory that would leave them devoid of the very agency to which we are allowed to know the Spirit's work within the triune God.

To think outside the box has the potential of setting the church on a trajectory that would leave them devoid of the very agency to which we are allowed to know the Spirit's work within the triune God.

The proverbial box may embody negative connotations within the cultural make-up, but conservative evangelicals must strive to ground all theological endeavors within the Scriptural text.  With the rise of moral relativism and social movements which highlight the autonomous individual, the church must discern the patterns of this world and give insightful with Gospel engagement.  The inability for the church to root themselves in the Truth will be the downfall to her own vitality and witness to a broken and depraved world.
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*footnotes

1. D. A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 121.

2. Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 444-445.

3. A. W. Tozer, The Counselor (Chicago: Moody Publisher, 2015), 25-26.

4. Schreiner, New Testament Theology, 468.

5. A. W. Tozer, God's Power for Your Life: How the Holy Spirit Transforms You Through God's Word (Ventura: Regal, 2013), 171.

6. Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 135.
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McYoung Yang (M. Div., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). He is the husband of Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (9), McCoy (8), McColsen (5), and DeYoung (2).  He is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, MN and is currently serving as a Counsel member of the Youth Ministry of the Hmong District of the C&MA. McYoung is continuing his post-graduate studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO where he hopes to obtain his PhD in Theology. He hopes to use his training and platform as a means to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens. McYoung enjoys reading/writing, sports, and playing with his children. 

The Irrelevancy of Relevancy

Whatever Works: 

The current trend that surrounds much of the church growth movement is grounded in a pragmatic approach that is intrinsically linked to corporate America.  Ministry philosophies and bible-training centers are built upon the notion that the church must be able to attract, draw, and gather a crowd in order to successfully engage in kingdom ministries.  The attraction is not necessarily the Gospel message, the cross and resurrection of Christ, or the self-sacrificing of the saints for the good of His people, but rather the glitz and glamour of consumerism built upon the narcissistic tendencies of our society. The nature of this way of thinking flows out of a ministerial framework that assumes humanity's ability—in of himself—to come to grips with the message of redemption. More times than not, what is achieved is not a genuine faith in the work and Person of Jesus Christ, but rather a cultural-Christianity that lacks any real evidence of saving faith. The commercialization of the church may very well be able to fill pews, but at what cost?

Though contextualization is a key component within effective ministry, the concept of over-contextualization must be analyzed and addressed. Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson, and Eric Geiger most notably define this tendency by saying, 

If we affirm too much of the surrounding culture, our ministry would lose the distinction of the message. This is the slippery slope of over-contextualization. . . All culture is broken, marred with sin, and in need of transformation (Eph. 2:1-4). The Gospel message is clearly countercultural in any given context and must always contain a clear edge of distinction.1

The ideology that assumes effective ministry be contingent upon becoming like the culture is, ultimately, counter-biblical and out of step with Gospel ministry.   Taking upon the church a consumeristic and entertainment-driven model of ministry is leveraging pragmatism that is devoid of any doctrinal and/or biblical theological conviction.  How the people of God are to reflect forth the glory of the Creator is mounted upon saturating oneself in the biblical narrative.  It is within redemptive history where we can begin to distinguish how the covenant community of saints are to model-forth Gospel living.

Taking on a consumeristic and entertainment-driven model of ministry is buying into pragmatism devoid of doctrinal and biblical theological conviction.

How, then, is the church to reflect the glory of God in a broken and depraved world? The two themes that surface are holiness and love. 

Set Apart:

The current pragmatic approach operates on the notion that in order to engage in the culture one must become like the culture.  The biblical content, however, points to the fact that in order to minister to the culture one must be distinct from the culture.  Said another way, the saints must be set apart from the world in order to engage in the world for the sake of the Gospel message.  

Like any trend-setter, in order to truly stand out one must disregard the fashion of his/her peers, and look beyond the horizon to gain a greater view of potentiality.  Contrary to trend-setting, the church's distinction is not built upon an innate gifting nor intrinsic value, but rather the power that is found in the work and Person of Jesus Christ—the Gospel. It is the fuel, power, and source to the church's distinction. 

Contrary to trend-setting, the church's distinction is not built upon an innate gifting nor intrinsic value, but rather the power that is found in the work and Person of Jesus Christ—the Gospel. It is the fuel, power, and source to the church's distinction.

Holiness:

Holiness reverts directly to the upright nature of God.  His purity, righteousness, and moral being is—in our minds—synonymous to holiness. Yet within the biblical scope holiness encompasses at least two definitions.  The first definition can be confined to morality while the second can speak of the transcendence or rather set apartness of God and/or His people. It is this second definition that I would like to stress for our particular purpose.

Leviticus 11:44 the Lord speaks to His people, Israel, in saying, "be holy, for I am holy." This phrase is found throughout the Old Testament and bleeds into the New Testament.  Though it is referencing the moral vitality of the people of God, it also speaks of how that moral purity funnels toward a distinctiveness that will distinguish His people from the other nations.  Israel, and ultimately the church, is not called to attract the nations through external means, but rather is to reflect the character of God through internal transformation. John M. Frame concedes that "Israel's holiness, like God's, involves both separation and moral purity. They are separated from all the other nations as God's special people (Deut. 7:1-6), and they are to image God's ethical perfection (Lev. 19:1)."2 The Apostle Peter echoes this same phraseology in 1 Peter 1:16.  Robin Routledge comments on this topic by saying, "Holiness, though, is not only about separation; it is also tied to relationship. Restrictions and prohibitions exist not to keep God away from humankind but to provide the means and conditions by which One who is Wholly Other may have contact with and enter into a relationship with His people."3

The effort for relevancy outside the pursuit of holiness in Christ Jesus is merely a desire to engage in supernatural ministries via carnal means.  This will not do! The pragmatic approach may derive from pure intentions, but ultimately is misinformed and misguided. If distinction from the world is the starting point to minister to the world, relevancy is not what the church needs, but rather holiness.

The pragmatic approach may derive from pure intentions, but ultimately is misinformed and misguided.

Love:

Love is a positive affection that our society and culture embraces.  From a worldly posture the ideology of love terminates on emotive intuition and perceptivity.  Yet the responsibility of the church is to not allow the patterns of this world to dictate the definitive approach on how love is perceived and, ultimately, how it functions. Love must come under the authoritative rule of the Scriptures.

Love, then, as an attractional force within the compelling institution of the church, cannot merely be confined to the emotive elements of the societal means. Love must be understood in light of the Person of Christ (for a more in-depth look click here).   Love, also, must be seen within the wider Johaninne corpus.  In light of the attractional element, love can be rendered from the notion that "By [love] all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (Jn. 13:35).

Yet before society's definition of love is infused into this text we must see that John, the author of the fourth Gospel, gives his audience clear perimeters on how to understand a Gospel-centered love.  Love is not merely subjective nor emotionally driven, but rather centered upon truth.  From the Gospel narrative, it is clear to see that truth is not merely precepts or ideologies, but rather a Person—Jesus Christ (Jn. 14:6).  Love, then, is grafted like a hand and glove along with truth to point to the fuller conception which is personified in Christ.  In the beginning of his Gospel the Apostle John depicts the Messiah as coming "full of grace and truth" (Jn. 1:14).  In his first epistle John articulates, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (1 Jn. 5:3).  Both of these instances convey the thematic flow of John's understanding of love and truth.

Therefore, to reflect the glories of Christ the church need not merely rely upon external matters such as cool music, smoke machines, or fancy gimmicks; but rather emphasize the centrality of Jesus in the life of the saints.  

Therefore, to reflect the glories of Christ the church need not merely rely upon external matters such as cool music, smoke machines, or fancy gimmicks; but rather establish an emphasis upon the centrality of Jesus in the life of the saints.  In turn, the love for Christ will overflow into a Gospel-love for the community of saints and beyond.

Reimagining:

Gospel ministry is not about our ability to persuade non-believers to love Jesus.  Humanity's depravity reveals to us that when left to ourselves we will "suppress the truth" (Rom. 1:18).  The power of the Gospel is not built upon external means to which we could attract individuals, but rather the proclamation of the Gospel to quicken the dead hearts of men, through the effectual work of the Spirit, to live in Christ.

Therefore, the Apostle Paul was not concerned with the latest fad, but placed his confidence in the heralding of the Good News. "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:1-2). Paul's confidence was mounted upon the fact that God will save, and the responsibility of the servant is to be faithful to the message. The people of God, then, are not called to follower the patterns of this world, but to entrust themselves to the self-disclosure of Him who called them.  D. A. Carson touches on this reality in saying,

Authentic Christianity demands more: a love for the God who has thereby disclosed Himself, a response to Him in obedience and faith. But it is futile to speak of loving and trusting and obeying this God if His words do not delight us and terrify us and instruct us and shape us. When they do, our worldview is progressively transformed and the culture of which we are a part, and which we pass on to others cannot help but diverge from the culture of those who embrace the processes of secularization. In such instances, Christ and culture are heading in different directions.4

How the church will reflect forth the glories of God is through the indwelling Spirit's transformative pursuit to conform the saints into the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29). The church's attractional aim is not necessarily to draw a crowd per se, but rather to display His beauty.  This is done not through external means, but through union with Christ to which holiness and divine love will be the characteristics that ooze forth from regenerate hearts.  May the church not rely upon fancy methodologies to measure her efficiency, but rather place her hope in the work and Person of Christ to whom we are to preach faithfully in the power of the Spirit for the glory of the triune God.
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*footnotes

1. Matt Chandler, Josh Patterson, and Eric Geiger, Creature of the Word: The Jesus-Centered Church (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2012), 202.

2. John M. Frame, The Doctrine of God (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2002), 28. 

3. Robin Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), 106. 

4. D. A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 122.
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McYoung Yang (M. Div., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). He is the husband of Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (9), McCoy (7), McColsen (5), and DeYoung (2).  He is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, MN and is currently serving as a Counsel member of the Youth Ministry of the Hmong District of the C&MA. McYoung is continuing his post-graduate studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO where he hopes to obtain his PhD in Theology. He hopes to use his training and platform as a means to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens. McYoung enjoys reading/writing, sports, and playing with his children.